New York Times Upfront articles from October 2008

New York Times Upfront archives from October 2008

George Orwell, blogger?(MEDIA)(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sept. 7, 1938: "Overheard local English resident:... Hitter's going to have Czechoslovakia art right. If he doesn't get it now, he'll go on and on till he does.'" This diary entry was written by George Orwell, the...

Sea ice in the arctic.(NEWS & TRENDS)(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SEA ICE IN THE ARCTIC is now at its second-lowest Level on record, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Since satellite measurements began in 1979, the record Low was 1.65 million square miles in...

Course correction.(SPORTS)(L.P.G.A. tour)(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Responding to a torrent of criticism, the women's pro golf tour has dropped a plan to suspend players who are not conversant in English. The policy, announced in August, was said to be the first of its kind in a...

Don't Im ur term paper.(EDUCATION)(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... Nearly two thirds of 700 students surveyed said their e-communication style shows up in their schoolwork, according to a recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. About half said they sometimes omit punctuation or...

Tonight's homework: finding a date.(ASIA)(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It seems like a typical college mixer: a room full of chattering young men and women. But it's actually a college course at Singapore Polytechnic on "love relations for life." Giggling and banter are all part of the...

Fowl Crowds in Miami.(BIRDZILLAS)(peacocks)(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The proud peacocks hanging out in Miami are wearing out their welcome. Roaming freely in packs of nearly a dozen, they emit earsplitting screeches that sound like someone's being attacked, and drop guano on $60,000...

When sushi met science.(FOOD)(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Was the pricey sushi being sold as white tuna the real deal? Two high school students decided to find out. Kate Stoeckle and Louisa Strauss, who both graduated this spring from Trinity School in New York, sent 60...

Numbers in the news.
October 6, 2008... 9.6 billion DECREASE IN THE number of miles driven in the U.S. in May 2008 compared with May 2007, as gas prices headed toward the $4-per-gallon mark. SOURCE: TIME $1,095 APPROXIMATE ANNUAL cost of consuming a daily tall latte from...

'The most insignificant office'? John Adams didn't think much of the vice presidency. But this year, Barack Obama and John McCain have chosen running mates who could determine the outcome in November.(Cover story)
October 6, 2008... One percent: That's the portion of American voters who typically say vice-presidential candidates influence their decisions in a presidential election, according to Andrew Kohut of the Pew Research Center. This year, however, may be a...

The charge: Genocide: years after the violence began in Darfur, Sudan's reader may face arrest.(INTERNATIONAL)
October 6, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] One day this past March, a frail great grandmother sat amid the charred ruins of her home in Abu Sorouj, a town in Darfur. With her bare, gnarled hands, she dug holes in the sand to construct the frame of a...

Why they're cramming in Korea: high school students in South Korea are studying overtime to get into the same colleges you're aiming for. They're part of a wave of foreign students vying for sports at top America schools.(INTERNATIONAL)
October 6, 2008... It's 10:30 p.m. and students at the Daewon prep school in Seoul are in a study hall that ends a 15-hour school day. A window is propped open so the evening chill can keep them awake. One student stands up at his desk to keep from dozing. ...

The inalienable rights of Apes? They share up to 98.7 percent of our DNA; in Spain, they may soon share our rights.(ETHICS)
October 6, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The environment committee of the Spanish Parliament voted in June to grant limited rights to our closest biological relatives, the great apes--chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans. The proposed law...

1960: the first mass media election: the new medium of television played a decisive role in the race between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon: 'image' ruled, and presidential elections changed forever.(TIMES PAST)
October 6, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] They stood side by side in Chicago, peering out from America's black-and-white television sets one Monday evening in September 1960: John F. Kennedy, the tanned, photogenic Democratic candidate for President, and his...

From Bethlehem to Virginia: a Palestinian student looks back at her freshman year at an American college and life back home.(VOICES)
October 6, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I grew up in Bethlehem, in the West Bank, with my parents, two brothers, and three sisters. My father works for the Palestinian Authority's environmental. agency. My mother is a nurse at a local, clinic. When I...

Global warming: what the next president should do: the candidates haven't focused on one of the biggest challenges of this century.(OPINION)
October 6, 2008... Imagine that the United States instituted a much higher gas tax [like those in Europe) that reduced our auto emissions by 25 percent. That would be a stunning achievement. The problem is, it would do very little to alleviate global,...

Should the U.S. withdraw its troops from Iraq? Five years after the war began, how the U.S. should proceed in Iraq is a major issue in the election.(DEBATE)
October 6, 2008... YES "The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war," President John E Kennedy told the graduating class of American University in June 1963. And while Kennedy made it clear that the U.S. would always be prepared to go to...

Cartoons.(Cartoon)
October 6, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HOCKEY MOM TO THE RESCUE! R.J. MATSON * OSt. Louis Post-Dispatch * CAGLE CARTOONS [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] change (chain) 1. To take a guy from here and put him over here. CHIP BOK * Akron...

Campaign worldplay.(GRAPH: ELECTION 2008)(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... Both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions this summer had two major purposes: to select their parties nominees and running mates--Senators Barack Obama and John McCain, and Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin--and start...

Cartoon analysis.(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... ANALYZE THE POLITICAL CARTOON 1. How does the artwork in this cartoon make you feel? 2. Why did the cartoonist draw so many images of going back and forth, and what are these images meant to convey? 3. What are "tossup states"...

Photo analysis.(President John F. Kennedy )(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ANALYZE THE PHOTO (See page 16 in the magazine) 1. Why might President Kennedy have allowed this photo to be taken with his son in the Oval Office? 2. What does the photo convey about Kennedy? 3. What do...

Venezuela.(SOUTH AMERICA)(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] President Hugo Chavez is taking oil-rich VENEZUELA down an increasingly socialist path, as he continues to stoke anti-American feeling in Latin America and beyond.

Brazil's.(SOUTH AMERICA)(Brief article)
October 6, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Encroachment on BRAZIL'S Amazon rain forest has environmental implications for the entire planet. With 192 million people, Brazil is one of the world's most populous democracies.

Was Stonehenge a health spa?(NEWS & TRENDS)(Brief article)
October 20, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The purpose of the 4,500-year-old circular arrangement of enormous stones in southern England--where modern-day Druids still celebrate ancient Celtic rituals--has long puzzled historians and anthropologists. Two...

Poe in motion?(AUTHORS)(Edgar Allan Poe)(Brief article)
October 20, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Edgar Allan Poe, author of bone-chillers Like "The Tell-Tale Heart," has been buried in Baltimore ever since he died there in 1849. But with the bicentennial, of his birth coming up in January, several other cities...

The American Muslim Teenager's Handbook: writing from experience.(ISLAM)(Brief article)
October 20, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With her Pakistani surname and dark skin, 18-year-old Yasmine Hafiz--a Muslim who grew up in Arizona--is used to scrutiny from airport security. Most recently, it was because of a metal object in her carry-on bag:...

Security that gets under your skin.(TECHNOLOGY)(transmitter chip)(Brief article)
October 20, 2008... Driven by fear, some Mexicans are paying $4,000 to have tiny transmitter chips implanted in their bodies. Last year 751 kidnappings occurred in Mexico, according to official statistics cited by Reuters. The transmitter chip, designed by Xega, a...

When less isn't more.(FOOD)(Brief article)
October 20, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Remember the supersize phenomenon, when fast-food restaurants offered huge portions of soda and fries? The reverse is now happening in America's supermarkets and stores. In industry-speak it's called "short-sizing."...

A two-way strait?(MIGRATION)(Brief article)
October 20, 2008... It's common to think of the land bridge that existed from time to time across the Bering Strait--the 58-mile-wide sea passage that separates Alaska from Russia--as a one-way affair. The route through this area is thought to be how many humans...

The Prime Minister is done.(ASIA)(Samak Sundaravej)(Brief article)
October 20, 2008... Moonlighting as a celebrity chef has cost the Prime Minister of Thailand his day job. Samak Sundaravej was forced from office in September when a court ruled that he had violated Thailand's Constitution by accepting payment for his appearances...

Numbers in the news.(NEWS & TRENDS)
October 20, 2008... 1,742 AVERAGE NUMBER OF text messages sent and received each month by 13-to-17-year-olds in the U.S. SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES 18 PERCENTAGE OF parliament members worldwide who are female, up from 11 percent in 1995. SOURCE: THE...

Q&A: economy in crisis: the meltdown on Wall Street and Washington's rescue plan left many Americans worried--and scratching their heads. Here are some straightforward explanations to help you make sense of what's happened and where we go from here.(Cover story)
October 20, 2008... WHAT CAUSED THE MELTDOWN? The roots of the crisis lie, ironically, in the housing boom of the late 1990s and the early years of this decade. A strong economy and low interest rates meant that it was much easier for people to get mortgages...

Voices: starting over: foreclosure on their home turned life upside down for Amber Vickerman and her family.(Essay)
October 20, 2008... We had lived on the east side of St. Paul, Minnesota, my whole life. My parents bought a home there 21 years ago, and I didn't think I would have to move until I got my own apartment. But foreclosure on our home last year changed all that. ...

According to the latest poll ... With Election Day approaching, polls are making headlines. But it can be tricky figuring out what they really mean--if they mean anything at all.(NATIONAL)
October 20, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AS soon as the Republican Convention in St. Paul was over last month, pollsters scrambled to measure its impact (as they had for the Democratic Convention in Denver the week before). Gallup released a poll...

How the Supreme Court really works: after 30 years covering the Court of The New York Times, Linda Greenhouse takes us behind the scenes for a look at how nine Justices determine the law of the land.(NATIONAL)
October 20, 2008... By the time the nine Supreme Court Justices emerged from behind a red-velvet curtain to hear the day's argument one morning last March, all 400 seats in the courtroom were filled. Some people had waited in line all night for a chance to witness...

India at a crossroads: the world's largest democracy deals with growing pains as its economy continues to boom.(INTERNATIONAL)
October 20, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Just a month before an Indian automaker had been scheduled to roll out the Nano--at $2,500, the world's cheapest car--from a new factory in West Bengal State, a series of peasant uprisings forced the company to...

Saving the world in study hall: college students used to be the activists, but now they're being joined by high school students interested in a range of issues.(OPINION)(Essay)
October 20, 2008... Teens are supposed to be sullen and self-absorbed, but Rachel S. Rosenfeld never got the memo. Rachel, a senior at the Hackley School in Tarrytown, N.Y., came down with a painful intestinal ailment that forced her to miss the entire...

Should states allow Election Day registration? Eight states currently let people register to vote on Election Day, and others are considering it.(DEBATE)
October 20, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] YES When we talk about the rights that Americans depend on--such as the right to free speech, due process, and equal protection under the taw--we tend to assume that we get those rights automatically. And that is the...

Cartoons.(Cartoon)
October 20, 2008... ARE YOU SCORING THE CANDIDATES ON THEIR RESPONSES? YEP, BEST QUIP, ZINGER, SOUND BITE AND WHO'S MORE LIKEABLE... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] GARY MARKSTEIN * Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel * CREATORS SYNDICATE ... RELAX, MY BROKER SAYS...

Poverty in the developing world.(GRAPH: INTERNATIONAL)
October 20, 2008... The article "India at a Crossroads" examines the challenges that country is facing as it makes the transition to an industrialized economy. As this graph shows, India still has a high proportion of people living in extreme poverty, even as its...

Cartoon analysis.
October 20, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] YEAH, PUT IT WHEREVER YOU FIND ROOM... ANALYZE THE POLITICAL CARTOON 1. Who is the foreman at the Federal Dump? 2. Why might it be hard for the driver to find room for his new toad? 3. What recent...

Photo analysis.(Brief article)
October 20, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ANALYZE THE PHOTO [See page 10 in the magazine] 1. What do you envision this man's life is like? 2. What period in America's history does the photo most remind you of, and why? 3. Look at the other photo...

Africa.(Brief article)
October 20, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Ethnic conflict in the Darfur region of SUDAN where Arab militias have been attacking black villages for several years, has Left 300,000 people dead and displaced 2.7 million more. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...